I'm getting fairly annoyed with this winged devilry and I've heard the worst is yet to come. I thought I had thoroughly applied repellent this morning before birding, but the mosquitoes managed to hit spots I missed, including my brows, inner ear and scalp just below my hat line. Repellents with any amount of deet make me feel a little feverish, plus they have the potential to erode binocular armoring. I've tried non-deet products like Herbal Armor (citronella), but they don't last for more than 10 to 15 minutes and I have to re-apply. Plus, they smell pretty awful. Really, I'm fed up with applying any sort of chemical and seriously considering some brand of hat with netting, but I dislike any kind of eyesight obstruction when I'm busy looking for birds. What's a birder to do?
(No insects were harmed in the production of this blog post. Really!)
Mosquito image © 2007 Mike McDowell